It took until December for Inter Milan to lose a game in Serie A as they surprised everyone by being top of the Italian league, since then the wheels have fallen off and now they need some reinforcements from Barcelona.
Both Inter and AC Milan have long been the sleeping giants of Italian and European football, once the teams who would compete for European titles they had become sides who could barely qualify for the Europa League.
The pairs investment this summer gave them a chance and AC, with more money spent on bigger names, were really expected to push for the top four and maybe the title but it has been the Nerazzurri who have done the better.
Up until December 16th they were unbeaten in the league and battling with Napoli for the top spot in Serie A but things have gone seriously wrong, three draws and two losses in their last five games has seen them plummet nine points off top.
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Now Luciano Spalletti's team are only three points ahead of Roma in third and will face a stern battle for Champions League places, so it would come as no surprise to see them strengthen in the transfer window.
According to Gianluca di Marzio the former Champions League winners are set to sign Barcelona's Rafinha on loan with their offer including a 20 million euro future fee clause.
The midfielder has not long come back from injury but his prospects of playing for Barca this season are damaged heavily by the club being in such a strong position in the league and having just added Philippe Coutinho to the squad.
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Di Marzio does report that the future fee offered by the Italian side could be seen as too low by the La Liga leaders but a deal is still likely to be done at some point this month.
Inter drew with Juventus in the league at the beginning of December and since then they've lost to Udinese and Sassuolo whilst drawing with Lazio and Fiorentina, they were also knocked out of the Coppa Italia by AC.
They'll be desperate to get back to winning ways but face Roma at the weekend in a very tough tie.
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